The Channel Fishes 323 



serrate above ; snout and lower jaw naked, rest of head scaly ; 

 dorsal and anal spines enclosed in a deep, scaly sheath ; soft 

 rays naked. 

 Anisotremus virginicus. The Pork-fish. Body ovate, the back 

 very much elevated; the anterior profile steep; very much 

 arched at nape; head 3J; depth 2^; eye 4; scales 11-56-17; 

 D. XII, 17 ; A. Ill, 10 ; mouth small, the maxillary extending 

 to anterior nostril ; jaws subequal ; outer row of teeth enlarged ; 

 about 6 gill-rakers. 



THE BLACK GRUITT 



{Hanmlon plumieri) 



The black or common grunt is the most abun- 

 dant and one of the most popular food-fishes in the 

 vicinity of Key West. It was named by Lacepede, 

 in 1802, in honor of Father Plumier, an early nat- 

 uralist, who sent drawings of the fishes of Mar- 

 tinique to the museums of Europe. It belongs to 

 the West Indian fauna, and is abundant near Key 

 West, and not uncommon about the rocks and 

 reefs at the lower end of Tampa Bay and other 

 rocky localities on the Gulf coast of Florida. On 

 the Atlantic coast it is found as far north as Cape 

 Hatteras. 



The depth of the body is a little more than 

 a third of its length, compressed, with elevated 

 shoulder. The head is as long as the depth of 

 the body, with a large, curved mouth and a 

 pointed and projecting snout. The profile is 



